Category: Television Shows

By:

The Dude on the Right
The spring TV season is starting to come to a close, but not, like, so, I talk
about, like,

during this podcast, like, this dudette who, so, well, like, she likes to
talk with, like, the word like "like, and so, well, so, she also likes to like
talk with the word "so."  But back to that TV season.

"Survivor: Fans v.
Favs" is quickly coming to a close, with the finale being this Sunday, on
Mother’s Day (hope you already sent your card), and "American Idol," like, well,
thank God, Jason Castro is gone because, like, I didn’t like him that much. 
I so don’t like David Cook that much either, but I am so in the Syesha camp.

I
also did get a chance to see the DVD of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," (with a
full DVD review coming soon) where if you want to see what Sarah Jessica Parker
looked like when she was 19ish, what Helen Hunt looked like when she was 21ish,
and what Shannen Doherty looked like when she was 14ish, this is the rental for
you.  Also, if you are a mom from who was a teen in the 80’s, and you want
to torment your daughter, rent this DVD.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
Ryan Seacrest says we must vote, and I’m saying I don’t care how poorly Syesha
might do, but vote for Syesha because do we really want a top three finish of all
dudes?  It’s obvious we don’t always vote for the best singers, so for the
love of God, don’t let "American Idol" become a sausage fest!

It’s "Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame" night, which I really don’t understand, except I guess it’s
songs you can pick which are from the R&R HoF.  But why are the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame inductions still held in New York City instead of Cleveland
which is where the Rock Hall is located?  I guess that is a story for
another time.  And Paula must be happy because the format is back to normal
where she only has to do her talking one performer at a time.  Hooray!

Let’s go…
1st Round of Songs

David Cook
 – Sings "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
 – He is singing okay like he usually does, but he has all of the charisma of,
well, he has none.  And why in the hell do you pick a song where the lyrics
we all know are "Do do do do, do do do, do do do, do do do, do do…", or
something like that.

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "Proud Mary" by, Tina Turner
 – She is so much looking better with the straight hair, has nice gams, and
almost has seemed to have come into her own as a singer and performer and might
now just be the person to be reckoned with if the dudes don’t step things up in
a big way.  VOTE FOR SYESHA!  Simon didn’t like it, but the heck with
him, every week is a bad interpretation of someone famous.  Let’s just
revel in the fact that someone seems to actually want to perform.

Jason Castro
 – Sings – "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley
 – Yea, go figure, Jason Castro thinks he can sing Bob Marley.  He’s trying
to finally be a performer, but he’s smiling during lines like "I shot him down." 
We will see if people don’t give a crap about his singing because if after this
performance he stays alive well, we know all of the stoners are voting in force. 
Simon was dead-on with "utterly atrocious" and "the only similarity was the
hair."

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King
 – He’s still squinting, but at least is trying to perform.  I’m not saying
he should get all "crazy eyed," but dude, get used to the lights, open your
eyes, and this performance would have been a hell of a lot better.  David’s
singing is good, but he’s still got to learn to work the girls in the front row. 
If he worked just one girl to show true confidence with the ladies it would have
been fantastic, and his possibilities would be endless.

2nd Round of Songs

 David Cook
 – Sings "Baba O’Riley" by The Who
 – No, this song is not called "Teenage Wasteland," though many people think it
is, and sadly for David he only had a short amount of time to actually sing this
song.  What is really starting to piss me off about "American Idol" is they
are not having the show done so the contestants can actually perform a song. 
This is a song that can’t be chopped into pieces for a couple of minute piece. 
Ugh, the AI people are ruining this show because I almost thing David could have
made this song great had he not had to chop it up.

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "A Change in Gonna Come" by, Sam Cook
 – Well, Syesha is starting to show she might actually be the person out of all
of these contestants who could actually have a recording career because she was
fantastic.  Screw you Randy, Paula loved her, and Simon actually agreed
with Paula.  As much as I say VOTE FOR SYESHA!, it might almost be better
if she gets booted so she can get out of the "winner of the "American Idol"
spotlight" and develop a career like Chris Daughtry.  In any case, Syesha,
if you do win, don’t let them drag out your career like they did with Jordin
Sparks.

Jason Castro
 – Sings – "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan
 – He forgot lyrics, he just doesn’t seem to give a damn about being in this
competition anymore, and how in the hell did he even think he could pull off Bob
Dylan and Bob Marley, so if he is not the one getting booted tomorrow we have
found out that this show doesn’t really matter anymore because the public just
likes a pretty boy, or a stoner-looking boy.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Love Me Tender" by Elvis "and do we even need to end
that with Presley?" Presley
 – Wait a minute, did he just say, or was he mocking me, that "I haven’t really
sung a romantic love song on the stage before?"  He’s still squinting, the
little girls and old ladies still probably love him and will text their hearts
out for him, and I’ll give him a few props for changing the arrangement a tad,
or give credit to whomever might have changed his arrangement.  Whoever did
the changes knew David would only have a short time to put this song out and
hopefully made it work.  David, dude, you still need to learn how to open
up your eyes.

Let’s wrap this up…

All I can say is that the "American
Idol" producer/director/whoever the hell is in charge of this monster is really
screwing this up.  I say that because between last week and this week our
contestants don’t actually get to sing, nope, they get to sing a bitty-small
portion of a song instead of actually getting a chance to perform a song. 
The culmination of this was David Cook singing the worst, chopped version of
"Baba O’Riley" ever.  Idol people, please, stop.  Get this show back
to how we loved it in year one and two, because if next season is like this,
well, I don’t know if I can stick with it.  "Dancing With the Stars" lost
my viewership, my Mom has already ditched "American Idol," but if you don’t get
back to actually letting the contestants learn to be performers, or at least
sing an entire song, I might be done with it next year.

In any case, VOTE FOR SYESHA!  And other than being a dudette, she
actually deserves it.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
As I quickly approach year 41 in my life, yet still act like I’m about 22, I
sing myself

"Happy Birthday" during this podcast because right now I have no birthday
plans.  But that’s okay, because now that I’m going to be out of my 40’s,
well, happy days are here again!  In anticipation of my birthday, though,
and having to renew my driver’s license, I got a haircut by one of the most
entertaining of people today, she who blamed her "sounding like she was stoned"
on a hoarse throat from a previous cold, as opposed to sounding, well, like she
was stoned because, well, she was a stoner dudette.

But stoner haircutting
dudette aside, I try my best not to make fun of Paula Abdul’s blunders during
the recent "American Idol" and now throw all of my support to Syesha because do
we really want to see a final three of all dudes?  And if "American Idol"
wasn’t goofy enough, how about maybe the dumbest contestant in "Survivor"
history, that being Jason who, after witnessing Ozzie be too cocky to play the
immunity idol and getting blindsided, the dude actually trusted the dudettes not
to vote him out, so alas, he didn’t play the immunity idol he found and got
blindsided.  I would like to think I wouldn’t be that stupid if I were on
"Survivor," but I’m more confused as to what family member or friend I would
beckon to visit me on some remote island, this being "family reunion" week for
"Survivor."

None of that matters, though, because the coming of my birthday
generally signifies fantastic movies, and for the past many years it has meant a
"Spider-Man" flick.  This year has

"Iron Man" opening up, which I almost think I am looking more forward too
than the Spidey flicks.  Dudettes, you are lucky, though, because if you
don’t want to see a superhero you can at least go see Dr. McDreamy in

"Made of Honor."  In maybe ruining my birthday weekend, I’ll probably
see that movie as well.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
I love Neil Diamond.  I’ve seen him in

1996,

1998,

2001, and

2005. I’ve taken some nice photos of the man, I’ve done some
cartoon
drawings of the man (scroll down for it), and I have even taken my Mom to his

concert back in 2001 which would have been a better experience for her (but maybe
not so much of a story), had I splurged on a limo.  He is a singer, he is a
songwriter, but hopefully for our last five folks in this contest it will be his
performing skills that he can impress on them.  We’ll have to see how that
goes as the show goes on, so let’s just get to it, and here’s how I thought the
five folks did…

ROUND 1
Jason Castro
 – Sings – "Forever in Blue Jeans"
 – Good choice for him.  It’s bouncy, light-hearted, and works with him
playing guitar, but he still isn’t being much of a performer. 

David Cook
 – Sings "I’m Alive"
 – Good, pick obscure Neil Diamond songs people don’t know by a performer who
most people know all of his hits.  David did good with the "I’m Alive"
song, but most people probably don’t want to hear Neil Diamond songs they don’t
know.  Quit trying to be so "original."

Brook White
 – Sings – "I’m a Believer"
 – "I’m a Believer" is just so wrong for a song for her to sing.  She
couldn’t hit the low notes, it might have been in the wrong key, and these
people playing their own instruments limit themselves because they are stuck
behind the mike and can’t actually work the crowd.  So far the performing
side of anything isn’t coming out.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Sweet Caroline"
 – So David tried to bust out of his melodic groove with maybe the biggest
karaoke song in existence, and he didn’t even fill in the "So Good, So Good, So
Good" part.  He almost wanted to work the crowd for this song, but then
hunkered back to just singing, almost seeming to hope he wouldn’t forget the
words.

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "Hello Again"
 – It’s nice enough, but just seems to be lacking some kind of punch that Neil puts into it even though it’s a ballad.

On a side note, Paula Abdul has finally hit an all-time
high for being clueless.

ROUND 2
Jason Castro
 – Sings – "September Morn"
 – Yea, we get the performer you want to be – the laid-back, hippie dude. 
We get it, the dudettes probably like your laid-back attitude, and you picked
good songs this week even though I found you lame.  You’re lucky the chicks
probably dig you.

David Cook
 – Sings "All I Need is You"
 – Yup, another obscure Neil Diamond song, what the hell are you thinking? 
Sure, you might be trying to separate yourself and be original, but in a week
you had two songs to pick maybe you should choose an obscure one for the first
song (good choice though), and then bring reality back with a Neil Diamond
classic so everyone could remember that.  You’re probably lucky that you
are a pretty-boy, rocker-dude, because that is the only thing you bring.

Brook White
 – Sings – "I Am, I Said"
 – You know what, I hate the fact that the band actually joined in because for
her, doing this solo, on the piano, was really working for me.  The back-up
band ruined it, because as a solo song this was actually a song I liked.  I
still hate that she won’t shut up when the judges give her their critiques, and
I only wish I could see her do this song in a smoky bar, all alone on a piano,
just being herself.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "America"
 – I know you are young, but who in the hell is coaching you on the songs for
you to sing?  Of all of the Neil Diamond songs this is probably the worst
choice in my head for you.  I guess it sounded better for his live
performance because on my TV I didn’t like it at all.  Am I hearing
something different?

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "Thank the Lord for the Night Time"
 – She’s at least coming out of her shell and trying to also be a performer, but
I think it might be a little too late because, as I’m listening to her, Syesha
could have probably turned "Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show" into a
fabulous number, but the problem is the American Idol folks forced these people
to do two songs in an hour.

Let’s wrap this up…
As much as I love Neil Diamond I still have absolutely no idea why he was
involved in this show.  The crappy part is that our contestants didn’t need
to try and fit two songs each into an hour, they really needed just one song
each to fill in this hour – and perform the hell out of that song.  I hate
to say this but the "American Idol" folks haven’t seemed to realize why we love
this show, and it’s not for seeing people sing a verse and then a chorus and
then being judged by Randy, Paula, and Simon, clipped because of time
constraints.  Our time is precious, don’t let us feel cheated.

I’ve
pretty much given up on "Dancing with The Stars," and now I’m almost not caring
about "American Idol."  Idol Producers, at least let these people try to
sing.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
In Chicago Cubs’ lore there are many things that tickle the fancy of Cubs’
historians, but as the 25th anniversary of Lee Elia going ballistic approaches,
I give a salute

during this podcast to the fact that 15% of those without jobs pissed off
Lee just enough so that he gave us some of the sweetest audio ever.  A word
of warning, though, because my salute is uncensored, with no bleeping, with all
of the f-bombs in full glory.  And as much as Lee was a master of words, it
seems Carly Smithson wasn’t the master of music because she got booted from
"American Idol," and I have to say I’m not that sorry to see her go.  What
is exciting me, though, is that next week we get to see five people butcher Neil
Diamond songs, while I’m just hoping that he actually tries to teach some of
these people to be performers.

TV is back in full bloom and "Lost" returns,
again, Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay this weekend, and I actually
have a Kenneth Keith Kallenbach story, he a wack-pack member of The Howard Stern
Show.  R.I.P. Dude who could blow smoke out of your eyes.

Happy listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

By:

The Dude on the Right
So as a good American I suppose I should probably be hunkered down watching the
Pennsylvania Primary Results to see if Hillary Clinton somehow pulls out a
chance to solidly beat Barack Obama if only to further confuse who will be the
Democratic nominee for President, but, dammit, it is Tuesday night, it is
"American Idol" night, and there is more important voting going on in just about
an hour.  Sure, it is Andrew Lloyd Webber Week for A.I., and Andrew Lloyd
Webber is fantastic, legendary, a mega-force when it comes to musicals, and
fine, I’ll admit it, I’m a fan of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Cats." 
Hell, I even saw "Cats" on Broadway back in 1985, although part of it is blurry
as we took a high school bus ride from Ohio to New York City, and since I can’t
sleep on moving transportation and "Cats" was the first play we saw out there
the evening we arrived, let’s just say I was nodding off during part of it, at
least I think so.  Man, some of those memories are blurry now, and unless
my mind is really messed up, we also saw "Noises Off" out there, which I can
still watch today and laugh my ass off if done even close to right.  But I
digress.

So as much as I do appreciate the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, maybe
the "American Idol" folks realize no one there has the personality/performance
quality to make it as a pop singer so they’re trying to see if they can make
some money with them on the Broadway stage.  Maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber will
actually get these shlubs to be performers, but I’m still praying for "Bruce
Springsteen Week" when he can teach this group about performing, and then Artie
Lange from The Howard Stern Show, now that he reneged on his resignation, will
have to answer to this equation:  Bruce Springsteen + American Idol = Ball
Shocking.

Enough reminiscing, enough praying, let’s see how our last six folks
sing…

Syesha Mercado
 – Sings – "One Rock ‘n Roll Too Many"
 – My prediction is that even though she sings nice enough, and she is trying to
perform it as if she were on stage, she’s the first singer of the night and only
her diehard fans will stick by and vote for her.  Sadly, or maybe happily,
she has shown she will be able to make it on Broadway, just not the pop/Idol
scene.

Jason Castro
 – Sings – "Memory"
 – This is not a song for "laid-back"-ness, which Jason Castro is all
about.  The thing is that people who know the song (like me), will probably
think it sucked, but fans who have no concept of the song might actually love
it.  He needed to hit the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack and become
Jesus, rather than singing anything from "Cats."  Horrible song choice.

Brook White
 – Sings – "You Must Love Me"
 – Does "forgetting the song" lend her to the bottom of the pack?  Does
singing a Madonna song save her?  Once she got over forgetting the lyrics
she did okay, but the performance aspect waivered.  Paula seemed crushed,
Simon was correct about the stopping thing, and now we will see how strong her
fan base really is.

David
Archuleta
 – Sings – "Think of Me", I think.
 – So Andrew Lloyd Webber gave David the best bit of advice ever – to open his
eyes, and yet he can’t.  I guess he’s a squinty dude who can sing well, but
still lacks the performance skills because if the dude just approached the front
of the stage, worked the girls in the front row, he would have shown everyone
that he is better than just a good singer.  Simon again is correct. 
David has to break out his shell and be a performer – quit standing in the
center of the stage.

Carly Smithson
– Sings – "Superstar"
– This song fits in her wheelhouse, but there is still something about her that
makes her "over-the-top" for the show.  She still shouts too much, she
still seems to have this attitude of "I deserve to win this," and this song was
probably a better choice for her, even though I still didn’t like it that much.

David Cook
 – Sings "Music of the Night"
 – Yea, fine, you could be on Broadway, too.  You will probably stick
around for another week, and at least you seem to try and work the crowd a bit,
but you have shown that there isn’t a pop-idol in this group.

Let’s wrap this up…

Great, this week has shown that we’ve got six people who could probably be on
Broadway, but not one of them has shown that they have the star power to be a
pop singer.  Sorry, but I really don’t care that much about these people
anymore.  We don’t need Mariah, we don’t need Broadway, now we just need to
see if these people can perform, and as I have been re-iterating from week to
week, we really need a performing mentor for these folks.

That’s it for this one! 
I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!